NYC – Councilmember Bill de Blasio, Chair of the Council’s General Welfare Committee, released the following statement regarding Governor Paterson’s proposed state budget.  While it would not go into effect until 2010, the Governor has proposed to increase the basic welfare grant by thirty percent over three years.  The basic grant for a family of three would eventually rise to $387 a month, up from its current level of $291 a month.  The grant has not increased from its current level since 1990.

“Our City and State are facing extremely difficult financial times, and tough choices have to be made.  Yet while spending must be reigned in, I commend Governor Paterson for recognizing the need to increase support to New York’s low-income families by raising the basic welfare grant.  This grant has remained at its current, bare-bones level for the past eighteen years, while prices and the cost of living have undoubtedly shot up exponentially since then.  I applaud the Governor’s forward-looking approach to protecting New Yorkers in need over the long-term,” said Councilmember Bill de Blasio, Chair of the General Welfare Committee.

(YWN Desk – NYC)